Banned Books Week 2016: the 10 most challenged titles – in pictures

As the American Libraries Association’s annual celebration of the right to read kicks off, take a look through the titles most frequently ‘challenged’ in 2015, and some of the reasons behind the calls to ban them

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green

In this debut novel, Miles sets off for boarding school in Alabama and finds a little more adventure than he had bargained for. Looking for Alaska won the ALA’s Michael L Printz award in 2006. When one parent called the novel ‘filth’ in 2016,
the author paid tribute to teachers who ‘understand the importance of reading books critically and thoughtfully as a whole, rather than focusing on individual scenes ripped from their context’.

2. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James

This erotica bestseller tells the story of a sadomasochistic affair between a businessman and a student. Critics poured scorn on James’s prose, but the series has
racked up sales of more than 125m copies around the world. Challenges included concerns that it was sexually explicit, unsuitable and ‘poorly written’.

3. I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel

This autobiographical picture book (co-written with Jessica Herthel) tells how the activist and YouTube star asserted and embraced her transgender identity. Reasons given for challenges included the accusation that it was ‘inaccurate’ and ‘unsuited for age group’.

4. Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin

The photographer Susan Kuklin interviewed and photographed six transgender teens, presenting a diverse and complex portrait of lives crossing traditional gender boundaries. Challenges included the suggestion that it was ‘anti-family’ and used ‘offensive language’.

5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

A 2003 bestseller, this novel follows Christopher as he investigates the death of his neighbour’s dog, unravelling the emotional and moral confusions of the adults around him. This sensitive portrayal of a boy on the autistic spectrum won a host of awards and has faced challenges suggesting it included ‘offensive language’ as well as ‘profanity and atheism’.

7. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Bechdel’s graphic memoir of growing up in small-town Pennsylvania explores her relationship with her father and her own sexuality in a dense spiral of memory and allusion. Challenges in 2015 included suggestions that it contained ‘violence’ and ‘graphic images’.

9. Nasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette Winter

Winter depicts life in Afghanistan under the Taliban in this story of a girl who enrols in a secret school after both her parents disappear. According to the ALA, challenges included objections to violence and ‘religious viewpoint’.

10. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

An attempt to break the world record for the longest kiss is at the heart of this complex novel. The ALA cited challenges focused on ‘homosexuality’ and the suggestion that the book ‘condones public displays of affection’.